iSport Cricket Paddock: With the Mumbai Indians making it to the finals of the IPL 3, iSporter Akshay Iyer praises its domestic Indian players – Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu.
The Indian Premier League over its three editions has seen scintillating and memorable performances from a host of established Team India players, international cricketers from other countries as well as some domestic Indian players. The likes of Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra and Rohit Sharma have used the IPL to either break in to or make a comeback to the Indian team; while established domestic stars such as Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia have been provided a platform to showcase their talent to the world.
The IPL, its recent controversies notwithstanding, has also given young Indian cricketers the experience and opportunity of sharing the dressing room with international superstars. This is just one of the reasons it is important that the IPL survives the controversies it has been facing recently. If it weren’t for the IPL, there would be no way that youngsters such as Mumbai Indians’ Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu in IPL-3 would be in the same dressing room as Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuirya, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, JP Duminy and Zaheer Khan. The same is true for Indian domestic cricketers in the other IPL franchises.
For a franchise to succeed in IPL, it is important the Indian players contribute as only four foreigners are allowed to be part of the playing XI. IPL-3 has seen Raina, Sharma, Murali Vijay, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Zaheer, Anil Kumble and Robin Uthappa contribute to the success of their respective teams. However, it has also been heartening to see lesser-known players like Deccan Chargers’ T Suman and Rajasthan Royals’ Naman Ojha stamp their authority on proceedings.
But, the two biggest domestic successes (non-Team India players) of IPL-3, in my opinion have been Tiwary and Rayudu, who have both contributed immensely to the success of Mumbai Indians in the tournament. Tiwary had represented MI in only 7 matches in the first two editions of the IPL, while Rayudu was making his debut in the league in the current edition. Rayudu’s talent and skills have never been in question, and he was expected to don India colours at one time, before problems on and off the field led him to join the ‘rebel’ Indian Cricket League for a couple of seasons. I must however admit that Tiwary’s performance in IPL-3 has come as a pleasant surprise for me personally as not having followed him closely in domestic cricket, I had no idea this powerfully built southpaw also possesses a smart cricketing brain.
Through the course of IPL-3, Mumbai Indians’ skipper Sachin Tendulkar has used Tiwary and Rayudu in the top-order ahead of international stars like Duminy, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard. This show of confidence by Tendulkar and the legend’s affirmation of faith in Tiwary and Rayudu through the course of IPL-3 has also undoubtedly helped the duo put in the performances that they have helped in their team’s run to the final. Tiwary and Rayudu have both shown they have the talent and presence of mind to deal with any situation in IPL-3 and the pair has also strung together some important partnerships to help their team come out of tricky situations in a few matches. Both Tiwary and Rayudu also have the ability to shift gears at will while batting and this coupled with their big-hitting prowess has certainly propelled them as success stories of IPL-3.
In the first two editions of the IPL, Tiwary was often compared to India captain MS Dhoni as both not only hail from the same state – Jharkhand – but the southpaw also has a long mane of hair that MSD used to sport in his initial days as a Team India player. However, with his impressive performance with the bat for MI in IPL-3 – he has so far scored 419 runs, including three half-centuries in 14 innings (15 matches) at an average of 32.23 and strike rate of 136.48 to sit at the eighth position in the leading run-scorers’ chart after the semi-finals stage of the tournament, Tiwary has carved out his own identity.
Rayudu’s form with the bat in IPL-3 has been impressive too and until the semi-finals stage, he had scored 335 runs in 13 innings at an average of 27.91 and strike rate of 144.39 to round out the list of top 15 run-scorers in the tournament. He has also doubled up as a makeshift wicket-keeper to allow his team to play an extra batsman. Though Rayudu has had his problems behind the wickets keeping to the express pace of Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan’s spin, his passion and commitment to his team’s cause deserves to be lauded.
Mumbai Indians have been the team of IPL-3 with Tendulkar leading from the front. The contribution of Tiwary and Rayudu to MI’s success and the manner in which Tendulkar has inspired and motivated them can also be a blueprint for the captains of the other IPL franchisees.
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